Thread: NOS Strop back barber hones and lithide De hone ?

So my NOS barber hones arrived today is there anything I need to do before use or a little scrubbing with water and soap then use? These are missing the strop back part but the hones are in amazing condition.
Thanks for any information fellas

You can gently use a green scotch-brite pad with a bit of soap and water if you feel the need. Though if they appear to be NOS then I'd suggest that you instead just rinse them with water to remove any particulates. After that, USE THEM!

Do not lap them.

Oh, and photos are required.

Utopian I took photos just for this post and completely forgot to add them thanks for the info as always. Im just going to give one a rinse and go these are brand new might see about adding the leather myself as a future project. Thanks again

What leads you to believe that they are unused?

Quiz time...

Do you know the purpose of the smaller hones being flat on one side and concave on the other?

Well.. valid point but I'm going off the seller and what she said. They do not appear to be used to my eye could be wrong though.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Quiz time...

Do you know the purpose of the smaller hones being flat on one side and concave on the other?

No sir I dont but I noticed this and wondered I got time if you're willing to share

Originally Posted by ejmolitor37

Well.. valid point but I'm going off the seller and what she said. They do not appear to be used to my eye could be wrong though.

OK, that's what I suspected.

I'll tell you what, use those hones for 10 years and see if they look any different than they do today!

Originally Posted by ejmolitor37

No sir I don't but I noticed this and wondered I got time if you're willing to share

They were meant to be a transitional hone. The flat side could hone a straight razor and the concave side was for honing safety razors. The older DE blades could be honed and stropped to greatly extend their use. Only more modern blades became disposable.

The vendor selling those hones, had a box full of them. I dont know where they came from, but they looked legit unused to me. They also looked legit "unfinished" as well. Certainly, they never recieved the strop portion of their production. A little search of the seller, "completed sales" will show just how many he had.
I was tempted too!